Pages: 1 2  Next -- Posted by Neugen at 3:05 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 How many of you have actually read one of the works of the following philosophers?  What they've written is a pretty good base for much of western philosophy. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates And these are not in the poll, but have any of you ever read Homer, or the novel Beowulf (not the name of an author). -- Posted by HannahBEE at 3:06 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 I've read more than one work by more than one of those listed authors. -- Posted by Neugen at 3:07 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Quote: from HannahBEE at 6:06 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 I've read more than one work by more than one of those listed authors. Because you chose to or because you were forced to?  And what did you read? -- Posted by HannahBEE at 3:15 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Yes, both of them I was forced to read, but I will admit that I enjoyed some of both of them. -- Posted by Neugen at 3:29 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Quote: from HannahBEE at 6:15 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Yes, both of them I was forced to read, but I will admit that I enjoyed some of both of them. Both of them being...? -- Posted by HannahBEE at 3:36 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Quote: from Neugen at 3:29 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Quote: from HannahBEE at 6:15 pm on Oct. 27, 2007 Yes, both of them I was forced to read, but I will admit that I enjoyed some of both of them. Both of them being...? Plato's The Republic Homer's The Odyssey -- Posted by Moridin at 5:04 am on Oct. 28, 2007 Plato, Aristotle and Socrates are not that representative of Western Philosophy. They represent only a small portion of it. Also, they where wrong in much of what they claimed. -- Posted by Stu at 11:18 am on Oct. 28, 2007 Haven't read any of them - deepest I've got is starting 'The Prince' by Machiavelli. -- Posted by obvious child at 1:46 pm on Oct. 28, 2007 Socrates didn't write. He spoke. Plato wrote the discussions of Socrates -- Posted by Neugen at 11:30 pm on Oct. 28, 2007 Quote: from Moridin at 8:04 am on Oct. 28, 2007 Plato, Aristotle and Socrates are not that representative of Western Philosophy. They represent only a small portion of it. Also, they where wrong in much of what they claimed. I realize they were wrong, that doesn't mean it isn't interesting. -- Posted by bigred23 at 5:11 am on Oct. 29, 2007 I've read the Odyssey for school. It's been years since I read it but I believe I enjoyed it. -- Posted by Moridin at 7:12 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from obvious child at 10:46 pm on Oct. 28, 2007 Socrates didn't write.   He spoke. Plato wrote the discussions of Socrates The written discussions of Socrates are probably not completely representative of Socrates. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 10:34 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Beowulf isn't a novel; it's an epic poem. And it is painful to read. Homer is slightly better, particularly the Iliad...the Odyssey tends to get repetitive. It's also interesting to compare the philosophies of Plato and the philosophies of Aristotle. For one being taught by the other, they have some surprising and rather large fundamental differences. But Moridin does have a point; the authors you've listed by no means come close to representing all of Western philosophy. -- Posted by Blackadder at 10:54 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Fuck Plato, Fuck Socrates, Fuck Aristotle. I'm so glad my degree has so little to do with them -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 11:02 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from Blackadder at 1:54 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Fuck Plato, Fuck Socrates, Fuck Aristotle.     I'm so glad my degree has so little to do with them My, but that's an intelligent position to take. Have you ever read anything by any of them? -- Posted by Blackadder at 11:10 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:02 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from Blackadder at 1:54 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Fuck Plato, Fuck Socrates, Fuck Aristotle.       I'm so glad my degree has so little to do with them My, but that's an intelligent position to take. Have you ever read anything by any of them? No....and I really don't intend to. If I wish to understand the euthrphro dilemma I need not consult plato. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 11:12 am on Oct. 29, 2007 How can you pass judgment on something you've never read? -- Posted by Blackadder at 11:25 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:12 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 How can you pass judgment on something you've never read? with ease. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 12:34 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from Blackadder at 2:25 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:12 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 How can you pass judgment on something you've never read? with ease.   Not a very intellectually honest position to take, to judge something as worthless without reading it. -- Posted by hermy81290 at 1:26 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 I find that philosophy is a very interesting topic. I have recently began studying Philosophy academically and it is interesting to compare Aristotle and Plato's theories on concepts of the soul and of the Forms in particular. If I get time I intend to read many more works to increase my knowledge but at this time, lack of time does not allow me to do so. -- Posted by Blackadder at 3:45 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 7:34 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from Blackadder at 2:25 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 6:12 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 How can you pass judgment on something you've never read?    with ease.        Not a very intellectually honest position to take, to judge something as worthless without reading it. If I were to place a gaint shit on your dinner plate would you eat it? "eww! no way! it would taste horrible!" "how do you know unless you try?" Life is simply too short to be fucking arround trying to get an educated opinion on everything.   --you shouldn't need to eat shit to know it tastes bad. -- Posted by chainsmokingprincess at 4:35 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 I have read chunks of the Iliad and more or less the entirety of the Odyssey. they were interesting, I suppose, but I can't really say I enjoyed them. But I feel the same way about Homer as I do about Nathaniel Hawthorne for the most part. They are entirely different authors with extremely long-winded descriptions for something that could be said in several words. I have also read a good portion of the works of Aristotle. However, when I took it out at the time, I did not understand most of it, and therefore have vowed to not read it again for a long while. It just didn't seem all that interesting and was in fact quite hard to read. I like books that I can understand and wrap my mind around, but that's just me, I'm not exactly a literary snob. -- Posted by chainsmokingprincess at 4:36 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 10:34 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Beowulf isn't a novel; it's an epic poem. And it is painful to read. Dante's Inferno is also quite painful to read. I heard that they're coming out with a Beowulf movie. I won't lie, I'm a little excited. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 8:24 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from chainsmokingprincess at 7:36 pm on Oct. 29, 2007 Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 10:34 am on Oct. 29, 2007 Beowulf isn't a novel; it's an epic poem. And it is painful to read. Dante's Inferno is also quite painful to read.   I heard that they're coming out with a Beowulf movie. I won't lie, I'm a little excited. The movie seems to screw with the plot a bit, but that's just judging from the trailers. I didn't recall Beowulf ever macking on Mommy Grendel. Also, Blackadder, there is a great deal of difference between learning about the foundations of much of modern philosophy and eating something that is obviously bad for you. -- Posted by Blackadder at 6:37 am on Oct. 30, 2007 the foundations of Philosophy are way before Plato's  time -- they probably sprout from the moment humans gained a consciousness -- the ability to think is philosophy's only pre-requisite. and also, what on earth made you think eating shit was bad for you? -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 7:42 am on Oct. 30, 2007 Quote: from Blackadder at 9:37 am on Oct. 30, 2007 the foundations of Philosophy are way before Plato's  time -- they probably sprout from the moment humans gained a consciousness -- the ability to think is philosophy's only pre-requisite. And yet, if you do not study Plato, you don't really have a base to look at where much of modern philosophy stems from, nor do you really have a base to argue philosophy, particularly Platonic philosophy. It leads to a stunting of sorts. -- Posted by The Samsoniteman at 7:57 am on Oct. 30, 2007 Teenagers reading philosophical treaties is generally a bad idea. Much better to read books about original philosophical literature rather than the other way around. I haven't read anything originally written by any philosopher unless I was forced to. -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 8:03 am on Oct. 30, 2007 Quote: from The Samsoniteman at 10:57 am on Oct. 30, 2007 Teenagers reading philosophical treaties is generally a bad idea. Much better to read books about original philosophical literature rather than the other way around. I haven't read anything originally written by any philosopher unless I was forced to. That's a shame. The Republic (particularly the tenth book) and The Symposium are actually quite good, independent of their philosophical content. -- Posted by The Samsoniteman at 8:10 am on Oct. 30, 2007 In terms of enjoyment, I might, but not before I've finished the almighty list. Only 19% so far :( -- Posted by exceedinglyrare at 8:31 am on Oct. 30, 2007 I'm going to have to keep that link handy; I'm constantly looking for new reading material, and even though I'm pretty sure I've read about half of that list, there's still another half. Thanks for providing that! Pages: 1 2  Next